American Nature Writing 2000

A Celebration of Women Writers

This acclaimed series, the leading showcase for contemporary nature writing, marks the new century and the new millennium with a special volume devoted to the writings of women. The 16 contributors to the book include 3 generations of women writers, both new and distinguished voices. The selections gathered here show American nature writing to be a vital and diverse genre, one that encompasses a range of themes: from the solace of wild places to the ferocity of nature, from the importance of urban green spaces to the need to protect the last of our wilderness areas.

In the words of the editor, John Murray, today's most gifted women nature writers "demonstrate the ability of women to move and change the world through the force of their words and the clarity of their vision." A wide variety of settings inspires the exceptional group of writers chosen for American Nature Writing 2000:

a deer hunting contest in rural Georgia;

a unique friendship forged between a group of women on a canoe trip through the White Mountains of New Hampshire

a walk through the coastal rain forests of southern Alaska, 10 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill

a drive through suburban Maryland in search of crow roosting sites

a white water descent of Chile's legendary Bio-Bio River

a harrowing hike in the depths of the Grand Canyon

a wilderness ranger's backcountry experiences with grizzly bears in the Teton National Forest